The Prince's Tale: Always
by MollieWeasley
Summary: Severus and Lily's friendship, from beginning to end. Hope you like it, :   Rated T, just to be safe
1. Becoming a Mother

The Princes Tale: Always

Chapter 1: Becoming a Mother.

**This is my first ever fanfic so please be nice, however constructive criticism will be widely appreciated :D **

**The Characters used belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling as does parts of the story; I wanted to keep it as true to the original as possible. Hope you like it **

Severus knew what was coming as soon as he heard the door slam. He was so used to it now; he no longer bothered attempting to hide. He used to hide when he was young, but it had always caused more trouble. His father tumbled, drunkenly into the family room – if you could call it that, there was nothing remotely family like about this room. He was shouting something, his speech slurred so much his words could hardly be distinguished.

"T…Tobias, why, why don't you sit down?" said Severus's mother, Eileen, walking into the room timidly behind him. There was a moment of silence. Tobias lunged towards Eileen, grabbing her wrists tightly.

"Don'ttellme!,mewha todo!" he screamed in a drunken rage, removing a hand from her wrist so he could slap her hard across the face.

Severus gasped but stayed put, he knew there was no use in trying to stop his father; it would just make things worse. Tobias had heard Severus gasp and slowly turned towards him, picking up an empty whisky bottle from the floor; his face was terrifying.

Tobias had slammed out of the house, still raging, leaving his battered wife and son to attend to their wounds. Eileen said nothing as she mopped up the blood dripping from her son's face. Severus showed no emotion, which was until Eileen wiped over the cuts; he whimpered in pain. She moved her hand away from him quickly. She knew she's never been much of a mother to him, and she knew Severus resented her for that; he resented her for just standing by and letting _that man_ hurt him. Severus wished that his mother had been stronger; he pitied her for her weakness. Eileen finished cleaning his face, and looked into his eyes, so much like her own.

"Come on, let's get you to bed" she whispered to him as if he were small again. Severus looked at her with wide eyes before following her up the stairs.

Eileen watched as her son clambered into bed; he looked at her.

"Night" he said rolling onto his side.

"What?" she replied almost smiling, almost, "don't you want to hear more about Hogwarts? You only have 2 more years left before you get your letter." She watched as Severus's pale, bruised face lit up. She hadn't told him a Hogwarts story in a very long time; Tobias had made sure of that. Severus snuggled deeper in his patched blankets as she began her story.

Severus had fallen fast asleep. Eileen bent down and kissed his pale forehead before leaving the room. Severus smiled softly in his sleep.


	2. Helicopters and the Lily

Chapter 2: Helicopter's and the Lily.

**Chapter 2 chapter 2 chapter 2 :D Hope you guys enjoy it! **

**Again, J.K. Rowling is amazing, these character's are hers, as is part of the storyline. **

Early next morning when Severus had woken, stepped over his father's drunken body in the hallway and made his way quietly through the front door, he made his way to the playground. He had been going there everyday since he was 7. When he reached the park he sat down next to his favourite tree that looked over the river. Severus loved this place. Breathing in the warm, early morning air Severus glanced round, taking in the scene. He looked up at the tree above him; a Helicopter tree. He closed his eyes, a wide smile spreading across his face. Slowly he opened one eye, the Helicopter leaves were flying through the air, zooming past his face, twirling high in the air and falling towards the ground gracefully. He sighed, closing his eyes again, completely content. Severus's eyes snapped open as he heard a bell like, laugh echo through the park. He scrambled to his feet; he knew that laugh. Crouching in the bushes Severus had a perfect sight of the pretty red headed girl; he'd been watching her for almost a month. She was special; she could do things, just like him. Severus watched as she and her sister swing higher and higher; the red haired girl went the highest with, what looked like no effort at all; she swung higher and higher, "Petunia, watch!"

"Lily, don't do it!" shrieked Petunia, Severus had always paid little to no attention to her, she just got in the way.

But Lily had already let go of the swing, at the very height of its arc and had flown, quite literally flown into the air. Severus smiled slightly as the laughter burst from her lips, and even more as she landed. She did not crumple onto the floor, as would be expected, instead – after staying in the air much too long – she landed far too lightly upright on her feet.

"Mummy told you not to!"

Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, she then leapt up, hands on her hips. Severus scowled, he really had never liked the other one at all, but then again, she was only a silly little muggle.

"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"

"But I'm fine," said Lily, still giggling. "Tuney, look at this, watch what I can do."

Severus frowned as he watched as Petunia glanced around. The Park was deserted apart from the three of them. He turned his attention back to Lily, his frown ceasing immediately. She picked up a fallen flower from the bush which concealed Severus. Lily waited for Petunia to come near enough to have a clear view, and then held out her palm. Severus adjusted his position so he also had a clear view. The flower sat there, in Lily's hand, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.

"Stop it!" shrieked Petunia.

"It's not hurting you," said Lily, but she closed her hand on the flower and threw it back to the ground.

"It's not right," said Petunia, Severus sae her eyes had followed the flower's flight to the ground and lingered upon it.

"How do you do it?" she added, there was a longing in her voice. Severus scoffed, unable to contain himself anymore and pushed his way out of the bushes.

"It's obvious isn't it?" he said startling the two girls. Petunia shrieked, and ran back towards the swings; Severus rolled his eyes at her, and then looked curiously at Lily. Though she was clearly startled, she remained where she was. Severus was beginning to regret his appearance. He felt his face grow hot as Lily gazed at him; her eyes were a beautiful emerald green.

"What's obvious?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Severus glanced at Petunia, who was still hovering next to the swings. Lowering his voice he answered Lily's question.

"I know what you are."

"What do you mean?" Her eyes alight with curiosity. Severus felt his cheeks burn again.

"You're…" he gulped, "You're a witch." He continued in a whisper.

Severus's heart suddenly dropped at Lily's expression; she looked outraged.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!" She turned, nose in the air, and marched off towards her sister.

"No!" said Severus, blood flooding his entire face. He flapped after the two girls. The sister's considered him, united in disapproval, both were holding onto the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag.

"You are," he said to Lily, "you are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard." He said feeling proud of himself, until Petunia's laugh cut through him like a knife. He scowled at her, his expression full of hatred.

"Wizard!" she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End, by the river," she said turning her attention to away from Severus. It was evident from her tone she considered the address a poor recommendation. "Why have you been spying on us?" She asked eyeing him with hatred that matched his own.

'Haven't been spying," said Severus, he felt very hot and uncomfortable in the bright sunshine, with the two girls glaring at him. "Wouldn't spy on you anyway," he added his words full of spite and bitterness, "you're a Muggle."

Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake his tone.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said shrilly. Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring icily at Severus as she left.

Severus stood watching them as they marched through the play park gate, disappointment filling his heart. He had been planning this moment for so long now, how could it all go so wrong? _It was all her fault, that stupid little muggle_, he thought bitterly, _why did she _have _to get in the way!_

"Aggggghhhh!" he screamed, slumping down angrily on the swing and kicking the stone's underfoot with all his might. A fairly large stone zoomed through the air and sliced straight through the apple tree.

"Stupid, stupid muggle, why did she have to ruin everything!" he sighed in frustration, and then kicked off from the ground.

When the suns light began to dim, Severus decided it was time for him to head home. When he reached his home in Spinner's End, he cautiously opened the door and walked through the cramped hallway; he closed the door softly behind him. He continued through into the living room to find his mother sitting in an armchair, patching up a pair of his old trousers.

"Hello you, I thought you weren't coming home," she said smiling softly at him, he dark eyes crinkling, Severus chuckled.

"I wouldn't leave without you mum," he replied taking her hand in his. She put down the trousers and stoked his head.

"Come on; let's find something to eat,"

Severus followed her into the kitchen, where the two of them ate happily talking about Hogwarts and magic.

Tobias Snape didn't come home that night; it was the best night Severus had ever had.

**What do you think? I like the ending to this chapter quite a bit :D but it's your opinion that matters! Let me know. (Hopefully chapter 3 will be up by tomorrow, depends if I can be bothered to type it all out :D) **

**Thank you, if you are reading this! **


	3. Unusual name, but I love it

Chapter 3: Unusual name, but I love it.

**Here's Chapter 3 ^_^ just letting you guys know I probably won't be updating as quickly as I have been. I go back to School on Tuesday and I've got some GCSE exams coming up … (SUCKS! -.-) and also I've only written up to half way through Chapter 4 so far … :L **

**But anyway, I'm really really happy that there are people reading this, it's something that I've done and I'm really proud of, so I just wanted to say thanks, even though I'm far from done! Hehe, but anyhoo, you know the drill, Character's belong to the ever amazing J.K. Rowling Ect. Ect. **

**Ah, before you get into the story, it has pointed out to me by a dear (slightly annoyed and mental) good friend, that there were rather a lot of typo errors and grammar mistakes in the last Chapter, for which I apologise profusely, if you could just ignore them and read the story I will be eternally grateful … happy Will? **

Severus woke early in the morning, his mothers arms wrapped around him. He smiled widely before snuggling down deeper in the warmth of his mother's arms and quickly fell back into a deep sleep.

Suddenly, Severus woke to find he was alone. At first he was unsure to what had woken him up, that was until he heard a loud crash come from the kitchen. Tobias was home. Severus did his best to block out the banging and the shouting, but it did no good. His mother's screams pierced through his heart like a white hot iron; anger seared through him, the sooner he could do magic properly, the better. He would show Tobias what he could do; Severus knew he would be able to hurt Tobias beyond what Tobias could do to him. Severus eyes darted towards his door as heavy footsteps approached. He quickly hid under his cover; the door crashed open

"Get! Up! You lazy little shit!" he screamed, yanking Severus up by one of his arms, causing him to yelp out in pain.

"P…Please, Tobias…Please…Just leave him be, for…for once," Severus heard his mother stammer as she entered the room, a large, hand-shaped, red mark on her cheek. Still dangling Severus by the arm, Tobias swung round to face his face. He raised his arm. The sharp smack echoed around the room. Severus felt his eyes fill with tears. Tobias turned back to him, rage contorting his features beyond their usual ugliness; he threw Severus onto the floor. Severus sat as still as a statue, completely clearing his mind of all emotion; he found it hurt less this way. Complete nothingness filled Severus as his father advanced towards him.

Later that day, Severus found himself, yet again, slumping on one of the swings in the park; a large purple bruise had formed across his jaw. His eyes were red and his clothes crumpled even more. All he could think about was his mother, she had never tried, not once attempted to stop his father hurting him before. He couldn't help but feel gratitude towards and something else, something he could not place, even if her attempt hadn't helped, it was still something. Severus was so deep in thought he didn't hear the crunch of the ground as a small girl, with shiny red hair and bright emerald eyes walked slowly towards him.

As Lily approached Severus, her sister's warnings rang loudly in her ears, 'that Snape boy, he's trouble' she would say, 'stay away from him Lils, I'm warning you,' however Lily was sure that Snape wasn't mental or crazy, he was unusual, she'd granted Petunia that one, but there was something about him, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about him Lily immediately liked. And he seemed perfectly sane to her.

Severus didn't even notice Lily as she sat down on the swing next to him. Lily studied his face for a moment, she frowned slightly as she saw the bruise, _what had he been doing?_ She thought.

"Hello," she said brightly. Severus jumped, and then looked towards her, straight into her beautiful eyes.

"H… hello," he replied feeling his cheeks burn.

"It was Snape wasn't it?" she asked him, with a soft smile on her face.

"Yes, ur, Severus, Severus Snape." He said to her, his confidence rising.

"Severus?" she giggled, "Unusual name, but I love it." Her smile widening, "oh, I'm Lily." She added as an after thought.

"I know," muttered Snape. Lily let out another giggle.

"So Tuney was right, you _have_ been spying," she said still giggling.

"N…No! Not spying, just, just watching. Besides my mum, I've never met another witch or wizard before." Lily's face became very serious.

"You aren't joking are you? You really mean it, I'm… I'm really a witch?" Lily thought it to be impossible, she couldn't be a witch.

"I'm deadly serious," said Severus, his eyes darkening.

"But I, I _can't_ be a witch!"

"Lily," he liked the feel of her name coming of his lips, "think about it, have you ever done something, something you just couldn't explain, when you were scared, or angry?" Severus watched as Lily thought.

She thought of the time her Granddad had died, she loved him so much. When her parents had told her she had been so angry, she didn't want to believe them, so she began shouting, the louder she shouted the heavier the wind blew through the open windows, knocking things off the shelves, whipping the curtains, eventually pulling them off the rails. Lily looked at Severus with wide eyes.

"See?" said Severus.

"Wow," was all she could say, "I, I really am a witch."

"Yup" Severus replied, smiling at her, "and you'll make a brilliant one too." he added shyly. Her answering smile was dazzling.

Lily and Severus spoke and played for hours and hours, and everyday after that. In no time at all, they became the best of friends.

**What do you think? (Again, sorry if there are grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes ect. It's just for enjoyment (Happy Will? -.-)) **

**Thank you for reading this! :D **


	4. I'll make it up to her

**William Palmer … SHUT UP. **

**Now that is out of the way, here's chapter 4, I hope you enjoy it and can excuse my bad grammar. Thank you for reading! **

**(Again, Character's belong to J.K. Rowling, got to love her :D) **

Everything seemed easier when Lily was your friend. Severus thought she was brilliant, so kind and caring, a little bit crazy at times but knowing Lily had made Severus believe all the best people had to be.

Lily and Severus were lying in the shadows of the large Oak tree by the river, discussing their favourite topic; The Wizarding World. Lily sat up, crossing her legs, hooked on Severus's every word; he continued to speak as he mimicked her actions, removing his overcoat.

"…and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."

"But I have done magic outside school!" Lily said panicking.

"We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," he couldn't help but nod, feeling important, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

There was a little silence, Lily had picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air, imagining sparks trailing from it. Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward Severus, and whispered, "It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"

"It's real for us," he replied firmly. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely," said Severus, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.

"And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered.

"Normally, but you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?"

He hesitated slightly. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the pale face, the shimmering red hair.

"No," he said. "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good," said Lily, relaxing. It was clear that she had been worrying.

"You've got loads of magic," he said, glad she had relaxed, "I saw that. All the time I was watching you…"

His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up at the canopy of leaves overhead. He watched her, how could someone be so pretty? He thought.

"How are things at your house?" Lily asked suddenly.

A little crease appeared between his eyes.

"Fine," he said, not wanting to talk much about _him_.

"They're not arguing anymore?"

"Oh yes, they're arguing," he said, picking up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart absentmindedly, "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like magic?"

"He doesn't like anything, much," _especially me, _he added in his head.

"Severus?"

He felt himself smiling when she said his name.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again."

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school -"

"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too -"

He turned red again and shredded more leaves. Then a small rustling noise behind them made them both turn; Petunia, hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing.

"Tuney!" said Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice, but Severus jumped to his feet, the hatred clear in his face.

"Who's spying now?" he shouted. "What d'you want?"

Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught, thinking quickly of something hurtful to say to him.

"What is that you're wearing, anyway?" she said, pointing at Severus's chest. "Your mum's blouse?" There was a crack. A branch over Petunia's head had fallen. Lily screamed. The branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears.

"Tuney!" But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Severus.

"Did you make that happen?"

"No." He said, looking both defiant and scared, as Lily frowned at him.

"You did!" She was backing away from him. "You did! You hurt her!"

"No - no, I didn't!" But the lie did not convince Lily. After one last burning look, she ran away from him, off after her sister, and Severus felt miserable and confused.

Rain fell fast and heavy the next day and Severus sat in his room staring out the window, feeling utterly miserable. He missed Lily so much and couldn't help wondering if she missed him too, but probably not, he thought, she would be too busy worrying about '_Tuney'._

"Aaagghhhh!" he huffed, pushing up off his bed, and walking out of his room hunching his shoulders, with no idea what he was going to do.

He wandered about the empty house, his father had, again, not returned the night before and his mother was out shopping. The house seemed bigger without her there; he wondered if this is how she felt when he was out all day with Lily. He quickly pushed that from his mind, he didn't want to think about yesterday, or about his mother, alone in the house all day long, it was then, that the old, rickety staircase caught his eye; it lead up into the attic. With a glint in his eyes he slowly made his way over, climbing the stairs carefully one by one. He had always been told to stay out of the attic, but he needed a distraction, and this one seemed perfect. When he reached the top of the stairs, he pushed the wooden tile upwards, revealing a small, square hole; he pulled himself upwards, into the darkness of the attic.

Severus spent all day long up in the small, damp attic. He had found the most wondrous things, all the old Prince belongings that had been his mother's and her family's; Severus assumed Tobias had forced Eileen to keep them out of view. He sat in the same spot hour after hour, reading book after book, all about Potions, and Magical Plants, and changing objects into things they are not, but the most fascinating books he read were all very old, very large, and very tattered books all about '_The Dark Arts'. _He read and read, taking in as much information as he could. And when it began to get late, he took a large pile of the books, and stored them under his bed. He couldn't wait to show Lily, but then his heart sank when he remember the reason for going into the attic in the first place. _I'll make it up to her, _and with that thought he grabbed some parchment and a pencil, scribbled a note, and then not bothering to get his coat, he ran out into the rain, and he kept running until he reached her house. He walked slowly up the drive to the cottage. It was beautiful and looked incredibly cosy and warm. Severus sighed and shoved the note through the letter box before trudging back to his cold, damp house.

**I'm not sure about this Chapter, but for the life of me can't seem to fix it, I promise I'll try to make the next one better :L I'll work on it this weekend so it should be up by Monday **** Thanks again! **


	5. Potion's and the forgotten Birthday

**I'M SO SORRRY. Blame my school? I've had GCSE exam's these past couple of weeks and have been revising like crazy, I know it's been way too long, (I've also suffered quite a bit a writer's block for a while) but here's Chapter five for you lot :') hope you enjoy it :D (Sorry again for any grammar mistake, just ignore them !) **

_Lily, _

_I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do it. I just couldn't control it. _

_I would never hurt you on purpose, I promise. _

_I'm so sorry, I hope we can be friends again. _

_Miss you._

_Sev _

Severus sat on the swing, rocking back and forth, a frown set on his face. _Did she even get the note?_ He thought over and over, _maybe she really doesn't want to be friends anymore. _He sighed heavily.

"What's that for, Mr. Grumpy Pants?" Said the only voice Severus wanted to hear.

"LILY!" He shouted, jumping off the swing and pulling her into a hug before he could stop himself.

"It's okay," whispered Lily in his ear, hugging him back tightly, before dragging him over to the swings. It was the best day Severus had ever had, and followed into the best months.

"Lily, look!" Severus shouted on an unusually warm January morning, running excitedly towards her.

"What is it Sev?" Said Lily curiously eyeing the large leather bound book, and patched bag Severus was carrying.

"Well," he began enjoying Lily's bright eyes on him, "when we had our fight, which I am still really sorry about," Lily rolled her eyes, "I went up into the attic and found a load of my mother's old magic stuff, this one in particular I thought you would be interested in. It's all about potions and has even got recipes in it! We could have a go if you like? I have ingredients and a small cauldron in here" he said, pulling the items out of the bag and placing them in the shade of the tree.

Lily was completely lost for words, even since Severus had told her about the different types of lessons Hogwarts offered, Potions had intrigued her the most. Instead of saying a word, Lily smiled, brilliantly at Severus, who immediately took that as a yes.

"Here, you pick one" he said handing the book to her.

Lily took it, being ever so careful, she could tell the book was very old by the way the pages frayed and the ink looked as if it had ran. She turned each page gently skimming through the potions on each of them.

"This one" she said simply, pointing to the page as Severus leaned over and read.

Peace Draught

_Ingredients:_ Includes powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore.

_Description: _Calms anxiety and soothes agitation.

"Looks good," Said Severus, he eyes Lily carefully, "but why that one?" he asked his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I'm not entirely sure; I was just drawn to it. Look," she took the book and pointed to the picture, "look at how beautiful it is, and it doesn't seem to difficult to make"

Severus watched how Lily's eyes became soft as she stroked the picture, he continued to gaze at her as she moved closer to the book, trying to decipher some slightly blurred words.

"Powdered moonstone and Syrup of Hellebore, do you have them Sev?" she asked looking up. Severus quickly averted his eyes.

"I do, but we'll have to powder the moonstone ourselves" he said pulling objects out of the bag.

20 Minutes later, Severus and Lily were laying in the shade, waiting for the potion to brew. Lily had closed her eyes, and smiled peacefully as small rays of sun broke through the leaves.

"Tell me more about Hogwarts, Sev" Severus smiled and launched into stories about the wondrous school. Suddenly, a loud bang made the two of them jump up, Severus automatically stood in front of Lily.

"What was that?" she asked, clinging on to Severus's hand.

"I think," he said taking a step forward, "I think our potions done"

They looked at each other before breaking into hysterical laughter. They laughed until their sides ached. After what felt like an eternity, the laughter ceased into small giggles. Severus, struggling to take control of himself, opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, that could've gone better" he said making them both burst into laughter again.

As they put the items back into the bag Severus had brought them in, a shrill voice could be heard shouting across the park.

"LILY! LILY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'M OVER HERE!" she shouted back, packing the last jar into the bag and handing it to Severus.

"About time, I've been looking for you everywhere!" said Petunia emerging through the trees. "Oh, it's you" she said sourly, spotting Severus.

"Yes, it's me" he replied, eyeing her with utter hatred.

"Stop it you two, what is it Tuney?" said Lily, giving them each a stern look. Petunia glared at Lily.

"Mummy wants you to come home now, dinners nearly ready and Grandma and Granddad are due to arrive any minute, so hurry up!" she said before stomping away, glaring at Severus as she did so.

"Um, I'd better go" said Lily. Severus noticed a type of sadness in her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, bye then" he said gently, offering her a small smile.

"What? Is that it?" she asked smiling brightly before flinging her arms around his neck. Severus felt his face go very hot, but returned the hug whole heartedly. Lily nuzzled her face into his neck.

"See you tomorrow, Sev, I'm glad you're my best friend" she whispered.

"See you Lils, I am too" he smiled at her as she ran off after her sister.

Severus made his way home with a dreamy smile upon his face.

"Good Evening Severus" A deep voice came from the living room as Severus entered his house. He froze as the voice spoke again; "Come in here, son" Shakily Severus entered the room to find his father sitting in the armchair, a cup of tea in his hand and his feet resting on the battered footstool. His mother sat on the sofa, again to be seen patching some old trousers.

"G-Good Evening, Father" Severus said his voice trembling, as his father looked at him. There was a long uncomfortable pause; it had been a very long time since Severus's father had attempted to be civil. Tobias coughed breaking the silence.

"Happy Birthday son, this is from me and your mother" he said handing him a parcel, wrapped in newspaper and string. Severus stared shocked, then looked to his mother, who smiled kindly. He had completely forgotten it was his birthday; his eyes darted to the battered, grimy calendar on the wall.

_9th of January 1970_

"Well? Are you going to open it or gawk at it boy?" his father asked sternly.

Severus took the parcel and gently removed the newspaper to reveal a black box, which was a little battered. He undid the clutch on the box and lifted the lid, the box contained an old text book entitled, 'Advanced Potion-Making', and a small piece of folded parchment was sitting on the top. Severus placed the box down took the parchment, it read:

_Dearest Severus, _

_I noticed a few books a miss from the attic the other morning when I was up there, I could only assume that you had 'borrowed' them. You won't need this certain book until your sixth year at school, but why not get a head start? (I noticed the majority of books missing are Potions books). I hope this teaches you as it did me._

_Happy Birthday my darling,_

_Your Mother_

Under the elegant script that was his mothers handwriting read another message in an untidy scrawl:

_Severus, _

_Your mother assured me how important this Hogwarts place is for you, and said that this was the most perfect present for your 10th birthday. _

_Happy Birthday Son_

_Father_

Severus was at a complete loss for words. It was a full 5 minutes before he spluttered out a thanks.

"T-Thank you, so, so much"

"Your welcome, come on, dinner then bed" said his mother leading the way into the kitchen.

Severus snuggled into bed, his birthday present sitting on the pillow next to him. He felt completely happy; until he heard a sharp slap, a small strangled scream and the bang of the front door come from downstairs.


	6. Hand in Hand

**Chapter Chapter Chapter, I forgot to say, thanks to Hermione's Harmony your reviews really help and make me feel loved ^_^ so yeah, thanks so much, you're brilliant!3**

**You'll probably hate me for this chapter being so short, but I have some big things coming up, :D!**

**Characters belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling **

"Happy Birthday, Lils" said Severus handing Lily a parcel wrapped in a brown silk cloth.

"Sev…Y…You shouldn't have!" Said Lily completely shocked, she hadn't known about his birthday until days after and only managed to get him some chocolate.

"No, I should have, it's your birthday and you're my best friend" he smiled, nudging her hand with the gift. She took it holding it carefully.

"Are you going to open it? I want to know what you think, mind you, it's not much but I wanted to give you something" he added, suddenly feeling shy. Gently, Lily removed the cloth revealing a book with a bright red leather cover and the page edges golden. She opened it up to find the pages blank, apart from the first page which had photo of her and Severus laughing into the camera; she was shocked to see her picture self and Severus moving but felt a warmth throughout her heart as she watched them. She looked up at Severus a large smile upon her face.

"It's enchanted, I asked my mum to do it for me. She's got a knack for these type of things and I also asked her to enchant the pages, so anything you write in it will be invisible to anyone but you, don't you like it?" he asked worried about her lack a speech, she never shut up usually.

"Sev…" was all she managed to choke out before diving towards him and giving him the biggest hug ever. He smiled into her hair.

"I'm glad you like it" he whispered.

They stayed in the embrace for what felt like forever, Severus never wanted to let go, but too soon, Lily pulled away a bright grin upon her face.

"Will you come to my house for my birthday tea? Please?" she asked him, taking his hand in hers. Severus blushed.

"Y…Yes, is it okay with your mum? I don't want to be a pain" he said.

"Of course it is, she was the one who suggested it" she giggled, pulling him up by the hand. They ran hand in hand to Lily's beautiful house.


End file.
